On September 12, 2006, authors Sean Stewart and Jordan Weisman released Cathy’s Book, an experiment in transmedia publishing, under the Running Press imprint. The book and its accompanying evidence packet provided a window into the life of Cathy Vickers, a fashion-conscious teenage girl with a penchant for daydreaming and doodling. Readers could follow a series of clues contained within the novel to birth certificates, news clippings, telephone numbers, and websites. Cathy’s Book was a New York Times Best Seller. The subsequent books in the trilogy, Cathy’s Key and Cathy’s Ring, wrapped up Cathy’s story.

Last month, the Cathy trilogy was re-released as an iPhone app, at $0.99 per novel. The app integrates the interactivity of the original novels, and adds animations throughout the story that make the illustrations liberally peppered throughout the book come alive. To celebrate the app’s launch, Running Press Books is giving ARGNet readers the chance to win an iPod Touch and iTunes gift cards. To enter, follow the instructions below.

How to Enter
-Leave a comment in this post between February 9, 2010 and February 16, 2010 responding to one of the following questions:

Why did you enjoy the Cathy trilogy, or why do you want to read it?

What was your favorite part of the video preview of the Cathy’s Book app linked above?

A Few RemindersRead the Official Rules to see if you are eligible to participate. The contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia and Canada ages 13 years of age and older as of February 16, 2010. Void in Puerto Rico, the Province of Quebec, and where prohibited by law.

-Include a valid email address, as ARGNet will be using that to contact the winner.
-Only enter once per household during the designated period: multiple entries or entries that do not respond to the above prompts may be disqualified.
-After the entry period closes, ARGNet will use the random integer generator at Random.org to select the winners.
-ARGNet will email the winners. If ARGNet does not receive a reply within 72 hours, a new winner will be selected.

6 Comments

Being one of the first transmedia novels, or at least the first to garner mainstream attention, Cathy’s Book was a herald of what will be an increasingly prevalent trend in integrating new media with traditional publishing.

It’s for this reason alone that I consider Cathy’s Book and the two sequels not only must reads, but important books to read.

My favorite part of the video above was the app itself of course! An interactive arg on your iphone? what an awesome use of new media! It is such an interesting concept! It makes me wish I had an iphone to play it on.

The Cathy’s book has full of animation and like a comics to me,it has visual effects which i think fun to read.
My favorite part of the movie is the animation every chapter of it and some animation that comes out while your reading the book. I think it is very fun to read